Nielsen Flags WWWQ/Atlanta With Special Notice For PPM-centic Online Question

May 9, 2016 at 3:40 PM (PT)

NIELSEN sent a special notice to CUMULUS Top 40 WWWQ (Q100)/ATLANTA over a question it put in an online form to loyal listeners, RODNEY HO at AJC.COM reports: The question, posted last MARCH, explicitly asked if they were using a people meter (PPM) -- specifically, "If you were asked to be in a radio ratings project that required you to carry a device that recorded all of your radio listening, would you do it?”

“Recipients of WWWQ-FM’s e-mail may perceive that the station has an interest in PPM participation,” the NIELSEN notice stated. “This in turn could differentially prompt the station’s listeners to agree to participate as PPM panelists [relative to others stations’ listeners], or differentially sensitize panelists to wear or carry their meters while listening to WWWQ-FM.”

NIELSEN also released the following statement: "The integrity of NIELSEN ratings and the privacy of our panelists is of the upmost importance. In early APRIL a FM station in ATLANTA conducted a contest where one of the questions and answers could have resulted in the station learning the identity of panel participants. NIELSEN conducted an internal investigation and concluded that the contest did not appear to result in the station learning the identity of any PPM panelist.

"Special station activities tend to be different from one another and acting in full transparency, NIELSEN added a special notation to the APRIL 2016 eBook. NIELSEN is committed to maintaining the highest standards of data integrity and will continue to act swiftly to ensure that those standards are upheld, including taking additional measures if circumstances warrant.”